Editor's note: This article references sexual assault.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) condemned a “culture of rape” at elite institutions like Cornell, referencing the alleged 2024 gang rape at Cornell’s Chi Phi house, during a Sunday visit to downtown Ithaca.
The allegations made by a former Cornell student, identified as Jane Doe, have gained national attention after she filed a Sept. 14 lawsuit accusing seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity of sexual assault and gang rape.
Ocasio-Cortez opened her 1,200-person town hall event, titled “Students vs. Billionaires” and hosted by More Perfect University, by addressing the lawsuit — calling it “one of the most pressing issues” in Ithaca this past week.
“Jane Doe, that survivor, lost her education because you can’t stay in school when something like that happens to you,” Ocasio-Cortez told the crowd. “She had to lose her education, and those men were protected by an institution and granted an Ivy League degree as a reward. Never again.”
The crowd reacted strongly to Ocasio-Cortez’s retelling of the case, booing when she stated that Cornell expelled two of the defendants in the case and had the rest write essays.
While not mentioned in the lawsuit, Doe’s lawyer has claimed that two of the students were expelled.
According to the lawsuit, one defendant encouraged his fraternity brothers to join in the alleged assault, messaging about “free pussy” in a group chat titled “Chi Phi Actives.” At the town hall, Ocasio-Cortez referenced those group chat messages, saying “it was normal to them … it was acceptable to them.”
“This is a culture, this is norms, these are practices,” Ocasio-Cortez continued. “What we must do is understand that we cannot protect those spaces anymore.”
An alumna of Boston University, Ocasio-Cortez spoke candidly about her first college party, connecting it to a larger culture of assault on college campuses.
“Within maybe 10 seconds of me walking into a party — at a gym, at a school facility — someone had touched me inappropriately,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
At a different party, which took place at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ocasio-Cortez said she felt like she was in a “factory of sexual assault.” She described seeing “horrible” scenes unfold in front of her, such as “incapacitated women [and] men taking advantage of them.”
She told the crowd “from one survivor to another,” that survivors can achieve anything and that “you are not defined by the things that have happened to you."
Ocasio-Cortez added that from a federal perspective, “a lot of work” has to be done to address assault on college campuses.
“The culture of rape, sexual assault and pedophilia is protected in elite institutions across the United States, including Cornell University … it has got to stop,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “This entire country is sick and tired of not just financially corrupt, but morally corrupt leadership.”
Varsha Bhargava is a member of the Class of 2027 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is the managing editor of the 144th Editorial Board and was a news editor for the 143rd Editorial Board. She can be reached at vbhargava@cornellsun.com.
Atticus Johnson is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a news editor for the 144th Editorial Board and can be reached at ajohnson@cornellsun.com.
